Contents

Production

This is the first episode to use a bland credit font in the closing credits, as opposed to a fancier font in earlier episodes.

Summary

The smoke

Fluttershy noticing the smoke.

The episode opens with Fluttershy giving food to some of the animals that live around her home. Fluttershy flies over to Angel, who is rapidly eating a carrot. Fluttershy tells him to slow down, otherwise he'll get a tummy ache. Angel drops the carrot and runs off. After Fluttershy catches up to him, she gives him the carrot and tells him to eat more of the carrot. After trying to get him to get him to eat a few more bites of the carrot, he kicks the carrot away and runs off again. But this time, he seems to notice something she does not: he starts coughing and, after several failed guesses from Fluttershy, points out to her an ominous cloud of black smoke heading towards Ponyville. Believing the smoke may be emerging from a possible fire, Fluttershy rushes over to warn everyone but fails to get their attention due to her soft voice and lack of assertiveness, and because the ponies in town are too occupied with their activities: Rainbow Dash tries to break a ball-bouncing record, Pinkie Pie organizes a celebration for when said record is broken, and other ponies are conversing amongst themselves. Only when Twilight arrives do the other ponies get alerted to the smoke.

Preparing for the journey

The main characters gather inside Golden Oak Library, where Twilight relays news from Princess Celestia: The smoke in question is not coming from a fire, but from a sleeping dragon. Celestia warns that if the dragon is not convinced to leave, the smoke from his snoring could easily blanket Equestria for the next hundred years. Twilight and her friends are tasked with taking care of the problem.

All ready to go?

There's a short montage where Twilight's friends prepare for their journey, which is heavily influenced by 1970s and '80s action television shows and films. Rainbow Dash stripes a red, white and green pattern onto her cheeks, Applejack packs money and apples, Pinkie Pie has sunglasses and balloons exploding from her bag (she giggles then says "I mean GRRRRRRRRR"), Rarity puts on a big hat with khaki coloring and Fluttershy comes out of her house wearing a football helmet, water wings and various other sports equipment, then jumps when the door closes. The group rendezvouses near the mountain the dragon has occupied. Fluttershy, who has exhibited very little enthusiasm for going after the dragon, tries to back out of the mission, and Rainbow Dash concurs, pointing out Fluttershy's timidness and worrying that she might slow them down, something she does repeatedly throughout the episode. However, Twilight Sparkle insists that the Pegasus' talent of interacting with wild animals could be useful. Spike remains behind to look over the critters that Fluttershy usually takes care of, over her objections.

The journey

"...I'm scared of dragons!"

— Fluttershy

Fluttershy, you're too cute.

Initially, Rainbow Dash's skepticism seems justified. Upon hearing the dragon's distant snoring, Fluttershy's limbs lock up, rendering her unable to fly. Another snore makes her stiffly fall to the side, accompanied by a goat bleat, alluding to the tendency of some breeds of goat to stiffen after being startled. Applejack is forced to drag her the long way around to catch up to the other ponies. Later, after her ability to move on her own has returned, she still has trouble leaping over a narrow chasm, having to be encouraged by one of Pinkie Pie's songs; and a leaf falling on her back makes her cry out, inadvertently causing a rock slide that almost buries them and further extends their journey.

They do eventually reach their destination: the cave where the dragon is resting. Twilight wants to go in with Fluttershy, in the hope that between the two of them, they can convince the dragon to leave. But Fluttershy says she is scared of fully-grown dragons. After a failed attempt to cheer Fluttershy on, her friends decide to finish the job without her.

Confronting the dragon

Fluttershy finally overcomes her fears...

Twilight tries to reason with the dragon, but is completely ignored. Then, Rarity tries to use her charm on it, but fails when she tries to lay claim to the dragon's jewels. Pinkie Pie enters the dragon's cave in a funny costume with balloons, flippers, giant glasses, and a party blower, but exits without success. Her costume is similar to Daffy Duck's body in a scene from the Looney Tunes cartoon Duck Amuck. All Rainbow Dash's brute force attempt accomplishes is making the dragon angry: it steps outside the cave and begins attacking the ponies. In the process, the ponies get knocked over, and Fluttershy's hiding place is destroyed, exposing her to the dragon.

Looking at her dazed friends, she gains enough courage to fly up to the dragon and admonish him for what she calls his bullying. Cowed by Fluttershy's tone, the dragon tries to justify his anger by explaining that Rainbow Dash kicked him. Much to Rainbow Dash's confusion, Fluttershy apologizes for Dash's attack on the dragon, but also says that the dragon is bigger than the ponies and should be more considerate. She also admonishes him for sleeping in a place where his snoring could endanger the health of other creatures. The dragon weakly attempts to argue back, but Fluttershy won't let him. After he has been scolded so harshly that he bursts into tears, Fluttershy comforts him and convinces him to leave. The dragon leaves the mountain, and Fluttershy's friends congratulate her for standing up to him.

Closing sequence

...Or maybe not.

The episode cuts to Ponyville, where Spike is struggling to keep Angel in check. Twilight Sparkle relays a message to Princess Celestia that the mission was a success, and that she learned to never lose faith in her friends. Outside the library the main characters watch Rainbow Dash once again trying to beat the ball-bouncing record. Pinkie plays a prank on her and imitates a dragon's roar, which makes Rainbow briefly lock up in fear in a similar way to Fluttershy earlier in the episode. Still, the two Pegasi's roles are not entirely reversed; when Rainbow Dash blows another stray leaf onto Fluttershy's back, she freezes up and faints. The episode ends with the main characters laughing at the frozen Fluttershy.

Fluttershy: How dare you... How dare you! Listen here, mister! Just because you're big, doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire... But you do not, I repeat, you do not! Hurt! My! Friends! ...You got that? Well...?

Dragon: ...But, that rainbow one kicked me...

Fluttershy: And I am very sorry about that.

Fluttershy: But you're bigger than she is and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap when your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures.

Dragon: But I?

Fluttershy: Don't you but I me mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself? I said, what do you have to say for yourself?

Dragon: [whimper] [crying]

Fluttershy: There, there. No need to cry. You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things. You just need to find a new place to sleep. That's all.